Different methods of pest control and their environmental issues

... werful. Farmers and foresters will no doubt continue to use them. All the same, society's growing concern about environmental risks makes alternative methods of pest control increasingly attractive.

An alternative method to chemical pest control is using biological pesticides or Biopesticides. Biopesticides are certain types of pesticides derived from such natural materials as animals, plants, bacteria, and certain minerals. For example, canola oil and baking soda have pesticidal applications and are considered biopesticides. At the end of 1998, there were approximately 175 registered biopesticide active ingredients and 700 products. Biopesticides fall into three major classes:

Microbial pesticides consist of a microorganism (e.g., a bacterium, fungus, virus or protozoan) as the active ingredient. Microbial pesticides can control many different kinds of pests, although each separate active ingredient is relatively specific for its target pest/s. For example, there are fungi that control certain weeds, and other fungi that kill specific insects. The most widely used microbial pesticides are subspecies and strains of Bacillus thuringiensis, or Bt. Each strain of this bacterium produces a different mix of proteins, and specifically kills one or a few related species of insect larvae. While some Bt's control moth larvae found on plants, other Bt's are specific for larvae of flies and mosquitoes. The target insect species are determined by whether the particular Bt produces a protein that can bind to a larval gut receptor, thereby causing the insect larvae to starve. Examples of different Bacteria approved by the Office of Pesticide Programs as pesticide active ingredients include: Bacillus cereus Strain, Bacillus sphaericus Serotype H5a5b strain, Bacillus subtilis, and Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. Israelensis. For example Bacillus subtilis GBO3 is a bacterium that is used as a fungicide on flower and ornamental seeds, and on agricultural seeds including seeds for cotton, vegetables, peanuts, and soybeans. The bacterium colonizes the developing root system of the plant and thus competes with certain fungal disease organisms. It isintended to aid in the suppression of plant diseases caused by such fungi as Rhizoctonia, Fusarium, Alternaria, Aspergillus and others that attack the root systems of plants. Examples of di ...